And They Were Never Heard From Again by Benedict Patrick

A wonderful new addition the Yarnsworld collection in this haunting gem!

This story is a very nice piece of creepy folklore set in the forest of the Magpie King. While the setting is from They Mostly Come Out at Night, it’s a solid stand-alone novella. Best of all, it’s free. It’s quite horrifying, as all good folktales should be since they are warnings. These stories the villagers tell their children have power as well. The more they are told, the more power they possess.

Don’t be caught out in the forest after dark. When five year old Tad creates his own tale, from his imagination, it takes on a terrifying life of its own. Tad and his older brother Felton learn a deadly lesson when Felton’s disregard for the tales leads them into the dark of the forest at night.

Trigger warning!! Gargantuan spider. If you’re arachnophobic, this will give you the heebie jeebies.

Yarnsworld. Where Fantasy meets folklore and exquisite stories emerge wound through and through with ancient tales. The imagination found here is rich, evoking the beginnings of mankind amongst the legends and myth that reach back as far as memory itself. Benedict Patrick has taken the oldest of these and woven a them into a world where his retelling of these oldest of tales is deftly intertwined with his characters and story arcs. They proceed side by side through the adventures, tragedies, and triumphs in each volume, revealing how Gods, myth and magic rule the worlds and lives of the characters and places he has created.

The cautionary tales of the indigenous people in three different cultures come from the earliest natives of North America in They Mostly Come Out at Night.

In Where the Waters Turn Black, the tales are from the Philippines and the islands of the Crescent Atoll. And in the newest Yarnsworld volume,

Those Brave Foolish Souls from the City of Swords, the author takes us to the arid and deadly lands deep in Mexico. In The  Each culture passing down through history these stories of legendary heroes, creatures, and gods are that are the center of their culture.

In the Shadows of the Owl Queen’s Court returns us to the realm of the forest and the Magpie King, found in volume one.

All are excellent stand-alone books, but I love the collective feeling of dread and things that lurk in the dark that you will find in each volume. Highly recommended reading for all who love old myth magic, cultural folklore, and legends set in a dark twisting tale. The apparent simplicity of the prose found in each book will  catch you with your guard down, as the heart of each of the volumes is quite disturbing. Each one filled with monsters, jealous gods, and cursed creatures. Much like the Grimm fairy tales of old, Yarnsworld is rich with darkness, violence and peril.

*A quote from the web page of Benedict Patrick:

And They Were Never Heard From Again was a tale originally published in the Lost Lore anthology just over a year ago. It remains one of the Yarnsworld tales I’m proudest of, and for a while I’ve been wanting to give it a proper cover. The story is FREE on Amazon, and the plan is to remain so permanently, to serve as a no-risk gateway for new readers of the series. If you have not read the story yet, GRAB IT NOW, and please feel free to share the book with fantasy fans everywhere! Just click the cover below.